Why Your Low Calorie Diet Isn't Helping Your Long Term Weight Loss

By Russ Howe


Have you ever followed a very low calorie diet and noticed how difficult it is to lose weight? If so, you are one of the millions of fitness enthusiast out there trying to build a better body but not experiencing the results they want. Today's article will explain why you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet unless you get a few fundamental rules in place first.

The general rule for those looking to drop some pounds, of course, is to eat less calories and exercise more. However, there are thousands upon thousands of people out there who are doing too much of one thing and not enough of the other. In rare instances, you even find people who are doing too much of both things.

If you not only want to shrink your waistline but you also want to keep your results long term, you would do well to avoid the outdated, ill-advised advice of spending hours on the treadmill while eating only a minimal amount of food each day.

At some point, almost every adult gets sucked into that quick fix trend. Mainly because it's featured in celebrity magazines which are aimed at overweight people attracted to instant solutions rather than hard work. Either way, it's bad advice.

Eating 500-1000 calories per day is outdated, ineffective advice and despite the fact that it has been scientifically proven wrong many times, there are still tens of thousands of people following that protocol in the gym. Likewise, they spend over two hours per day on the cardiovascular machines in the gym and don't see any results because this is also outdated advice. Those who combine these two ineffective protocols usually go through this cycle:

After experiencing a quick weight loss for a period of about a week while their body reacts to being starved, they quickly hit a wall. They mistake that quick loss for progress, so they continue restricting calories and hammering cardio sessions on the gym floor. They suddenly realize that they can't lose any more body fat no matter how much they try. This leads to frustration, causing the person to eat lots of junk foods in anger and pile on any pounds they had lost in the first place.

Upon reaching this point, it is easy to understand why an individual becomes depressed about their weight and wants to get their diet back on track. The problem is, however, they continue straight back on the same routine. But the second time around they blame themselves for their lack of results and restrict calorific intake even further...

How can it be possible to eat under 1000 calories per day and hit the treadmill for over two hours a night but still not lose any fat? The answer is very simple. The body isn't getting the nutrients it needs to survive, therefore it has slowed down your metabolism and prevented you from burning what little stores it has left. That's right, your body is actually stopping you from burning off any more fat.

In most cases you'll simply be losing lean muscle tissue, which is why crash diet addicts often look quite ill when they reach their end result. In order to fix this regime you simply need to rethink your diet and training. Forget the outdated notion of long cardiovascular exercise and replace it with a HIIT routine combined with regular weight training.

That's right - building lean muscle tissue via weight training will actually increase your fat loss substantially!

In terms of calories, you must first correct the issue you have created from could have been years of abuse. Slowly begin increasing your calories by around 5 percent each week until you reach a point where you can teach your body to survive on a decent portion of food each day while maintaining your present weight.

How much you eat can determine how easy it is to drop unwanted poundage in future, too. For instance, a person who maintains 200 lbs eating only 500 calories per day will find it very hard to get further progress because they are already malnourished, whereas a person eating 2000 calories per day will find it easy.

If you walk into any fitness suite you will hear countless men and women saying that they can't lose weight on a low calorie diet and wondering what they need to do to sort it out. Rather than running straight to the first personal trainer you see, simply look at your eating habits and exercise routine. You will usually find that the issue is right under your nose.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment